https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/11/14/one-defenses-trump-is-literally-tv-sitcom-joke/
(former “Simpsons” writer Bob Oakley)
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Sunday, November 10, 2019
Shuffle #122 (November 10, 2019)
10 Degrees And Getting Colder – Gordon Lightfoot
My One Desire – Stray Cats
The Green Leaves Of Summer – The Brothers Four
You Don’t Get Much – The BoDeans
I Can’t Understand – Los Lobos
Do What You Want, Be What You Are – Hall & Oates
Baby I’m For Real – The Originals
Thunder Road – Bruce Springsteen
Come Back And Stay – Paul Young
Saturday, November 9, 2019
Shuffle #121 (November 9, 2019)
I Have Nothing – Whitney Houston
Fireball – Pitbull
The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone) – U2
Burning House Of Love – X
Words Get In The Way – Miami Sound Machine
Lost And Lookin’ – Sam Cooke
Penguins – Lyle Lovett
Blue Christmas – Elvis Presley
Summertime – Eva Cassidy
Sitting On The Fence – GrooveLily
Tuesday, November 5, 2019
More on Medicare-for-all
Two recent Washington Post columns:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/warrens-climb-in-the-polls-should-horrify-democrats/2019/11/04/429f4032-ff4d-11e9-9518-1e76abc088b6_story.html
(Michael Gerson)
Paul Barrere
I like Harrison Smith’s quick summary of Little Feat in his obituary
above: “… mixed California rock with New Orleans funk over a half-century of
extended jams and fiery performances.”
Favorite Little Feat songs:
Dixie Chicken
Let It Roll
Oh, Atlanta
Fat Man In The Bathtub
Hate To Lose Your Lovin’
All That You Dream
Time Loves A Hero
Sailin’ Shoes
Willin’
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Favorite Musical Artists: Eva Cassidy
I’ve expressed my feelings about Eva in an earlier post (“With the
possible exception of Sinatra, I’ve never heard anyone approach Eva Cassidy as
a singer, in terms of voice quality, phrasing, and the overall ability to
interpret a song”), but Jefferson Morley provided an even better summary in his
superb 1998 Washington Post article, “When Chuck Met Eva”:
“She had a voice that could silence a barroom and get the pool players
to lay down their cues. A voice that could prompt casual listeners to round up
their co-workers for a night out dancing. A voice that could invest all kinds
of American popular music with a true portion of herself.”
RIP Eva. Your legend lives on.
Favorite Songs:
Blue Skies
You've Changed*
Dark End Of The Street
Wayfaring Stranger
You Don't Know Me*
Stormy Monday
American Tune
Cheek To Cheek
People Get Ready
Oh, Had I A Golden Thread
I Could Have Told You So*
Penny To My Name
Autumn Leaves
Won't Be Long
A Bold Young Farmer
Gee Baby, Ain’t I Good To You*
God Bless The Child
Honeysuckle Rose
Fields Of Gold
* -- with Chuck Brown
Monday, October 28, 2019
October 27, 2019 – Astros 7, Nats 1 (World Series Game 5) – Nationals Park
Weather: 72 degrees, Clear.
Wind: 8 mph, In From LF.
Umpires: HP--Barksdale, 1B--Holbrook, 2B--Wolf, 3B--Eddings,
LF--Cederstrom, RF--Hoye.
Time: 3:19
Attendance: 43,910
The search for the Washington Nationals’ offense, gone missing this
past Friday, proved fruitless for the third straight day, with only a single
ray of hope in each of them. Even the presence of POTUS didn’t help to unravel
the mystery.
The situation required something close to perfection from the team’s
pitching. Joe Ross, starting only due to the injury-related late scratch of ace
Max Scherzer, did pitch efficiently, needing only 78 pitches to get through his
five innings of work. Unfortunately, he served up a two-run homer to Yordan
Alvarez in the 2nd inning, putting the home team in a quick hole,
and allowed another two-run shot (this one to Carlos Correa) in the 4th.
Rainey and Doolittle blanked the visitors for two innings after Ross left, but
Hudson allowed a run in the 8th and yet another two-run dinger (this
time to George Springer) in the top of the 9th, greatly accelerating
the flow of fans toward the exits.
Houston starter Gerrit Cole, after being treated rudely by the Nats in
Game 1, got his revenge Sunday night, giving up just three hits, with the only
one that hurt a bit being Soto’s solo HR following the 7th-inning
stretch. Washington’s only real scoring chance came in the top of the 2nd,
when singles by Soto and Kendrick put runners on the corners with no one out.
In keeping with the script for the previous two games, however, Zim struck out
and Robles grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Since our previous two World Series trips to Nando’s had been followed
by deflating Washington defeats, we altered our pregame routine, taking
advantage of the unusually warm weather to dine outside at Wiseguy Pizza.
(Obviously it didn’t help, but the pizza was good enough to justify a repeat
visit.)
October 26, 2019 – Astros 8, Nats 1 (World Series Game 4) – Nationals Park
Weather: 63 degrees, Overcast.
Wind: 10 mph, R To L.
Umpires: HP--Hoye, 1B--Barksdale, 2B--Holbrook, 3B--Wolf, LF--Eddings,
RF--Cederstrom.
Time: 3:48
Attendance: 43,889
The recipe for Game 4 turned out to be almost identical to that of Game
3. The Nats added some sterling defense, but also mixed in an atrocious bullpen
meltdown. The main ingredients – excellent Houston pitching blended with
Washington’s failure to take advantage of their scoring opportunities –
remained the same, as did the final result.
The conventional wisdom going into the contest was that the Astros,
lacking a fourth starter and therefore needing to make this a “bullpen game”,
would be at a decided disadvantage, with the Nats countering with a
well-regarded (and well-compensated) veteran like Patrick Corbin. The
conventional wisdom turned out to be wrong.
Corbin, who had been up and down during the postseason, did get through
six innings for the Nats. However, he dug the team into another early 2-0 hole
by yielding four consecutive singles with one out in the 1st inning.
He settled down and allowed only one baserunner the next two frames, but
faltered again in the 4th, as Robinson Chirinos homered for the
second straight game, this time with a man on base.
Meanwhile, rookie Jose Urquidy, with just 41 regular-season MLB innings
to his credit, shut down the hosts for five strong innings on only two hits, as
the Nats wasted Gomes’ leadoff double in the 3rd (thanks in part to
Corbin’s inability to bunt him over to third). Washington missed its best
opportunity to get back in the game in the 6th after Josh James
replaced Urquidy and walked two of the three batters he faced, with the heart
of the order coming up. Will Harris took over for the Astros, and Rendon
managed an infield single to load the bases (and give the Nats credit for a hit
with a runner in scoring position, albeit one that did not actually result in a
run). Harris then induced another grounder from Soto that did score Parra as
Houston recorded the second out, and then fanned Kendrick to minimize the
damage.
Any hopes for completing the comeback died a quick death just a
half-inning later. Rainey couldn’t find the plate, walking two of the three
batters he faced. Rodney then entered with the proverbial can of kerosene, allowing
a Michael Brantley single to load the bases, followed by an Alex Bregman grand
slam. One out and three walks later, Davey was merciful enough to yank him in
favor of Wander Suero, who kept the score at 8-1 by fanning Kyle Tucker. The
Nats did manage to produce (and strand) a few more runners, but the meaningful
part of the evening was over. The Series was now tied at 2-2, with only one
more chance for the Nats to win a game at home before the action returned to
Texas.
Saturday, October 26, 2019
October 25, 2019 – Astros 4, Nats 1 (World Series Game 3) – Nationals Park
Weather: 64 degrees, Partly Cloudy.
Wind: 2 mph, Out To RF.
Umpires: HP--Cederstrom, 1B--Hoye, 2B--Barksdale, 3B--Holbrook,
LF--Wolf, RF--Eddings.
Time: 4:03
Attendance: 43,867
Section 416, Row J, Seats 27-28 (back in our old section, but on the
opposite aisle and higher up – under shelter in case of rain)
It was, in a sense, a game of opposites. Washington starter Anibal
Sanchez, when last seen starting Game 1 of the NLCS two weeks ago, went 7.2
innings in that affair before giving up his one and only hit. Friday night, he
gave up a hit to the leadoff hitter, and 10 in all, without getting out of the
6th inning. The Astros, who had been struggling mightily with
runners in scoring postion, went 4 for 8 in such situations, while the Nats
were 0 for 10. Houston was sloppy in their Game 2 defeat; now, the Nats yielded
4 stolen bases (including one where an errant Suzuki throw allowed the runner
to get all the way to third), while birthday boy (and Gold Glove nominee) Juan
Soto misplayed one ball in left field and airmailed a throw on a second, giving
up an extra base each time.
For the first time in the Series, Washington’s starter kept the Astros
off the board in the first inning, although they scored in each of the next two
to put the home team in an early 2-0 hole. The strategic turning point came in
the bottom of the 4th, after a leadoff Zimmerman walk and a one-out
Robles triple. Although Tanner Rainey was warming in the bullpen, Davey allowed
the light-hitting Sanchez to bat. He struck out, and Turner hit a soft ground
ball to pitcher Zack Greinke, leaving Robles on third.
The decision was certainly defensible, given Sanchez’s low pitch count
and the shortage of reliable options in the Washington bullpen, but it did not
work out well. Sanchez recorded only 4 more outs, giving up one more run in the
5th and a homer to Robinson Chirinos in the 6th before
leaving with one out. Meanwhile, Fernando Rodney prevented any further damage
that inning, and Joe Ross combined with Wander Suero to blank the visitors over
the final three frames.
The Nats didn’t lack for baserunners, getting at least one man in
scoring position in each of the first six innings and getting Greinke out of
the game with 2 outs in the 5th. They just couldn’t get hits when
they needed them, either against Greinke or the Houston relief crew.
Things seemed much more crowded than at the two NLCS games, despite
almost identical attendance figures. You could barely move on the lower level
when we came in around 6:45, and getting out of the park after the game seemed
to take forever. Metro did a great job getting us back, but I didn’t actually
get home until 2:15.
And I was extremely happy that DC Washington got the honor of
performing the National Anthem before the game.
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